Sorry Broncos, but in a scrimmage
between Denver and Charlotte, it’s the home of the Panthers that comes
out on top — at least in terms of being an affordable, compelling place
to live.

While both Denver and Charlotte, which are roughly the same population,
have a lot in common, including a vibrant sports, restaurant and
entertainment scene, robust job markets with similar unemployment rates
(Charlotte at 4.5% and Denver at 4.2%) and similar crime rates,
Charlotte has some qualities that make it stand above Denver. Here are
three.

Cost of living

It costs significantly less to live in Charlotte (the cost of living
here is nearly 6% below the U.S. average) than in Denver, where
residents pay more than 15% above the national average. In general,
health care and housing are more expensive in Denver than in Charlotte,
though Denver does have the advantage of cheaper utility and grocery
costs. Sales taxes are slightly lower in Charlotte than in Denver,
though incomes taxes are higher in Charlotte.

Furthermore, even though the median household incomes in the two cities
are roughly the same, the cost of living differs significantly.
Charlotte residents not only bring home plenty of bacon, they don’t have
to shell out as much of it to live in the city.

Housing

Buying a home in Denver will cost you significantly more than buying one
in Charlotte. Denver is one of just 14 markets in the U.S. that are
overvalued; an overvalued housing market has home prices that are 10% or
more above the long-term sustainable level.

Schools

Charlotte schools rank 6 out of 10 from school ranking site
GreatSchools.org, which looks at test scores, compared with a 5 out of
10 for Denver. But the thing that may be most impressive about Charlotte
is this: Residents can afford to live in a good school district. The
Charlotte area has myriad affordable school districts — defined as an
area in which the average wage earner in the city could spend less than
30% of his income for an average home in a district that has an
elementary, middle and high school, all of which have at least average
test scores -- while Denver has just two.

Denver gets colder than Charlotte and has more snow, but it is one of
the sunniest cities in the nation (in some years, there are more than
300 days a year of sunshine).